Water saving advice

Want to know how to save water? This page has advice on how to save and what water saving products to try.

Things you may be able to do now

Use a dishwasher

A modern dishwasher can use as little as 15 litres of water for each wash. Compare that to around 63 litres that hand washing uses each time, or 150 litres if the dishes are rinsed as well, and you can see just how much water and money you could save.

Make sure you wait for a full load before you turn the dishwasher on though or you'll end up wasting even more than hand washing.

You can save when using your washing machine too – remember that one full load uses less water and less energy than two half loads.

Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth

Remember to turn the tap off while brushing your teeth. Over six litres a minute pour out of the average tap. As a nation we could save an amazing 180 million litres a day if we all followed this simple advice.

Take showers instead of baths

Everyone likes a nice relaxing bath once in a while. But here's something to think about before you reach for that tap. A bath can use up to a massive 100 litres of water while a shower only uses about 33 litres.

Watch out for those sneaky power showers though. A five-minute soaking under one of these can actually use more water than a bath.

Know how to turn off your water supply

If you don't know where your main stop valve is, go and find it now. If a pipe does spring a leak you could save yourself the headache of a big clean-up operation as well as reducing the amount of wasted water.

Don't forget to hang our emergency contact hanger over your stop tap while you're there – it'll be in the perfect place if you have a watery crisis.

Put tissues and cotton wool in the bin

Throwing used tissues or cotton wool down the toilet is a big water-waster. It's like flushing money down the pan. Throw them in the bin instead.

Water saving products

Grey water pumps

A simple and effective idea, grey water pumps are devices that move the water from your bath or shower tray into your garden. They don't use electricity, instead relying on siphon suction to transfer your used water to your garden. Using natural atmospheric pressure you can use your bath water to water plants, fill water butts or even wash the car.

Shower timers

It can be difficult sometimes to get out of a nice hot shower – by fitting a shower timer, available from various retailers, you'll start to realise just how long you spend there. Just think, one little device could save you money on your water bill, money on your energy bill and possibly save you from being late for work too.

Watering cans and water butts

How does your garden grow? Using a garden sprinkler will make your water bill grow even faster than your lawn. They can use a ridiculous 1,000 litres of water an hour. So invest in a humble watering can instead and collect rainwater in a water butt to use on your plants and lawn to save litres of treated tap water. But if you must use a sprinkler, try to do so in the morning or late in the evening when less of the water will evaporate before reaching the roots of your plants.